School of Fine Arts: Ipogeo

The project was originally designed as a proposal in the architectural competition for the new building complex of School of Fine Arts in Florina.
The climate conditions in the region are extreme during the school’s annual operation and the unexceptional environmental surroundings don’t foster with the school’s function and activities. Confronting this hostile environment, the intention was to reduce the negative environmental impact. Thus, the project emphasizes on a subterranean form inspired by the vernacular architecture of underground buildings.
The environment, the climate and the landscape are basic parameters in the conceptual procedure, interacting and intervening with the building limits in order to determine indoor and outdoor spaces and shape the structural volumes.
The underground building is organized following a structural grid of 2,90m. Three wide corridors, parallel to the long dimension of the building, form a horizontal circulation net, where classrooms, lecture theatres, workshops, art labs, atriums and patios are crossing to lead to an outdoor space. The main entrance of the school is located at the southwest end of the building and is accessible through a large staircase that functions as an outdoor meeting spot and leads to the central entrance.
The main goal was to create an environmentally friendly building with nearly zero energy footprint by exploiting renewable energy sources. The benefits of an underground construction in combination with solar atriums, roof solar panels and green roofs are the key features of the project in order to achieve a comfortable and healthy environment with minimum energy consumption.
The final result is a school building complex that unites light, design, landscape and climate into a specific atmosphere that directly addresses the senses and embraces, enchants and enhances the inspiration and creativity of the users.